1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to exterior vehicle mirror assemblies, and more particularly, to a pivoting detent joint for large commercial vehicle mirror assemblies that has a low profile while maintaining the proper detent compression function between components to hold the mirror assembly in a desired position.
2) Description of Related Art
Exterior vehicle mirror assemblies are known to include a pivoting detent joint connection between a carrier base attached to the vehicle and a support arm carrying the mirror head so that the mirror can be selectively positioned and held in a desired orientation. To provide the necessary detent function, large coil springs are generally used to draw the connecting elements together and hold the support arm in position. While these coil spring arrangements are generally sufficient to provide the necessary basing force, the designs tend to be relatively large and bulky to accommodate the components in the carrier base and support arm. The larger and heavier the mirror assembly gets, the more wear and tear is suffers due to road vibrations, which can lead to failure of the detent assembly to properly hold the mirror head in position. Additionally, larger mirror assemblies tend to have less desirable aerodynamic properties that can reduce fuel economy and also lead to undesirable wear and tear.
Also, it is desirable to provide a built-in stop mechanism to prevent unwanted rotation of the mirror assembly beyond defined or intended ranges of movement. In many mirror assemblies without stop mechanism, the mirror head can be moved to a point of hitting the vehicle, or moved beyond the limit of the detent joint to hold the support arm in position. Over rotation can thus damage the vehicle, the mirror assembly, or both.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an exterior vehicle mirror assembly with a low profile detent joint to provide a smaller, lighter, and more aerodynamic mirror assembly.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a build-in stop mechanism for a low profile detent joint to prevent unwanted rotation of the support arm.